Pickled Cucumbers + Lunch Bowl

I don't know when my appreciation for pickled foods started. But I must say I'm hooked! You can actually make pickles in just one day using a brine of apple cider vinegar, water and spices. This recipe is based off of In the Raw's Icebox Pickles, I so appreciate the use of apple cider instead of regular vinegar! yay :)

Funny "pickle fact" about our family: My sisters and I went to drama camp when we were kids. As an activity the camp stood around in a circle and said tongue twisters. Our little sister, Brooke had one in mind and wanted to share it with everyone, it was: Mr. Pickle went into a Pickle, with his friend Pickle. Haha It didn't make any sense! Priceless moment...

Cukies

Pickled Cucumbers:
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup water

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Chili flakes (for heat)

1/4 tsp mustard seed

1/4 tsp dill leaves

Combine ingredients for brine in a small jar, add thinly sliced cucumbers. Let sit overnight in fridge, and That's it, pickles! You can even reuse the brine, store it in the fridge and keep putting pickles into it.

Now for the bowl. I love making these bowls because it means I will have a good lunch for the few days :). Everything can be prepared ahead of time and just stored in the fridge until ready to eat. I topped it with kasha (toasted buckwheat) which gave it a nice surprise of crunch! Drizzle with olive oil and you're good to go!

pickled cucumbers, quinoa, red pepper, kale salad, mushroom/onion sautee, lentils, topped with kasha and olive oil

bowly bowly bowly bowl

Simple Wilted Kale Salad:
1 head kale
Salt, to taste
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp olive oil
Pepper, to taste

De-stem kale and slice into bite size pieces. Add rest of ingredients and massage until broken down.

Mushroom/Onion Sautee:
7-8 mushrooms, sliced
1/3 onion, sliced
salt, pepper
1 clove garlic
oil, for frying

Fry onions in oil for 2-3 minutes, add rest of ingredients, cook until mushrooms and onions are tender.

We made a bowl like this before for our Sketch-Free Student Eating series a while back too. Check it out!

We submitted this to Ricki's Wellness Weekend this week.